


Of Scars and Truths

by Storynightlight



Series: Zutara Drabble December [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fire Nation nobles are jerks, Friendship, Katara crushes a little on Zuko, Post-Canon, Pre Relationship, ZKDrabbleDecember, Zuko has self steem issues, just a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27853494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storynightlight/pseuds/Storynightlight
Summary: Zk Drabble December Day 2: Please don't lie to meZuko opens up to Katara about one of his most profound insecurities.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zutara Drabble December [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037445
Kudos: 28
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	Of Scars and Truths

“Katara…I need to ask you something…something that has been bothering me for a while?”   
Katara blinked in confusion “Zuko,” she took his hand into her own and gave it a light squeeze. “you know you can tell me anything, I’m always here to listen. Is everything alright?”  
His fingers intertwined with hers and he gave a small sigh. His eyes were fixated on the pond before them where a bunch of baby turtleducks was swimming while being supervised by their mother, oblivious to the humans sitting right in front of them. Katara had to admit that she really envied them, they were so unbothered by anything that happened around them preferring to focus on how to groom their feathers or checking whether the water was too cold for them to go for a swim. They didn’t have to worry about ending a war or rebuilding a whole nation, the kind of burdens that had fallen upon her and her friends’ shoulders.   
Zuko tore his gaze away from the pond and rested his back against the trunk of the tree that was behind them. “Do you…” his tone was unsure, it was obvious he was afraid of asking her whatever was on the back of his mind “Never mind, forget it.” He snatched his hand back and began standing up.  
“Hey,” she reached out to him, laying a hand on his shoulder “don’t. I told you I would listen, don’t be afraid of opening up to me.”  
Opening up to me. In that moment she saw herself back in the Crystal Catacombs, trapped under Ba Sing Se with the boy she swore she hated, the one she saw as the enemy. The boy that, without warning, had shared with her a brief but important piece of information about his life. And while they had been at war at the time and he had betrayed her after she had just begun to trust him, that had been the first time she saw him as human, as just a sixteen year old boy who was also suffering the consequences of war.   
Now, they were not enemies and the war was over. Any kind of information could be shared and he would not betray her trust, never again.  
Zuko sat back down and grabbed her hand again. “Alright.” His gaze had turned back to the turtleducks, refusing to look at her “Do you, and please be completely honest with me…do you think I look disgusting?”  
The question caught her off guard. Disgusting? Katara honestly did not know what to say, She caught him looking at his reflection in the water, Is this about his scar? she wondered. Truth be told, Zuko rarely talked about his scar. In fact, the only time he had said something related to it was in the Ba Sing Se right before she offered to heal it. She turned to look at him, finding that he was now staring at her.  
He looked away after some time “You do, don’t you?” Apparently, he had taken her silence as an answer.  
“No, I do not. Zuko…”  
“Katara, please don’t lie to me. If you feel…disgusted by me then that’s fine. I know I’m not really good looking.”   
Katara had never seen him like this before. She knew Zuko was still struggling with some parts of himself but she never thought his physical appearance was one of them. She wondered where he had gotten the idea that he was not good looking. It was the nobles, it had to be. Ever since becoming Fire Lord Zuko had faced a lot of backlash and she knew some were talking rudely about the young man behind his back.   
“Zuko, look at me.” he didn’t turn his head, still refusing to look at her so she cupped his face, the left side of his face, with her hand. “Look at me. You are not disgusting and whoever thinks that is wrong. In fact, why should they care about how you look like? I bet that those who have said that are just angry that you are not catering to their every need so they say those comments because they can’t do anything against you. You know what? They are the disgusting ones because they are so insecure that they feel the need to attack you for things that should not matter to anyone. But, I repeat, you are not disgusting. Actually, you are a very handsome guy and I’m not saying this just to make you feel better, I’m saying it because it’s the truth.”  
Zuko gently moved her hand away from his face and held it between his. “Is that really how you feel?”  
She sighed “Would I have told you all that if I was lying?”  
“No, you wouldn’t have.” He gave her a smile, a real smile, not like the ones he had to fake when talking to others, and he visibly relaxed. “Did I ever tell you this used to be my mother’s garden?”  
“No actually. Did she spend much of her time here?”  
“Yes, she did. And I was always with her.” And in that moment, under the shade of the beautiful and large tree, he began telling her the most beautiful moments of his childhood.


End file.
